The present invention relates to a composite material for decorative applications, and more particularly relates to improvements in the composition of a composite material used for decoration on fashionable articles such as watches and eyeglass frames.
Various Ti-base composite materials have been used for such decorative purposes, in which a metallic sheath is clad to Ti core of high strength, rich anticorrosion and light weight. For example, Ni or Ni-Cr alloy or Cu alloy sheath is clad to Ti or Ti-base alloy core. In another case, SiC fibers are used for the matrix.
In general, the property of light weight is required for a material being used for the above-described decorative purposes, in particular for eyeglass frames. The alloys used for the sheath in conventional composite materials all have a relatively large specific gravity and are low in mechanical strength. In order to obtain good workability and be adaptable to brazing and plating of a composite material, it is preferable to make the sheath as thick as possible. In terms of light weight, however, excess use of such a heavy sheath should be minimized. Light weight and high strength may be obtained by increased inclusion of Ti or Ti-base core, which results in poor workability of the product and therefore being unsuitable for intricate deformation in production of eyeglass frames. In the case of composite materials including SiC fibers, long SiC fibers have to be used for utmost utilization of high strength and elastic property of the fibers. Breakage of fibers often happens during production of such long SiC fibers and, as a consequence, it is almost infeasible to produce uniform long SiC fibers at high production efficiency.